Talking openly about what's on your mind may seem like a huge risk.  You may be afraid of what others would think.  Would they reject you?  Would they laugh? Would they oppose you? Would their reactions matter to you at all?  The prospect of conflict or competition can be a huge deterrent.  Yet, isolating yourself and keeping quiet isn't typically a fulfilling choice.  Which steps could you take to learn to cope and finally get to the crux of what matters?

You could begin by learning to understand the reasons why approval may be important to you.  If you do not receive a kind of approval from certain people, how does it affect your confidence?  It's time to liberate yourself from narrow forms of expression that could play into your fears.  By changing your inner attitudes, you can learn to overcome fear and realize it compromises your pursuits.

In the Tibetan Art of Serenity, Christopher Hansard offers 7 relevant steps for achievement:

1) Learn how to make decisions that are free from fear, so that your progress shall be clear.

2) Choose pursuits that you love and give them the best that is in you.

3) Seize opportunities based on a clear and serene mind.

4) Learn to live in perfect comfort with your higher levels of power.

5) Know that there are mental and spiritual energies dormant in you that will only wake when there is a need.

6) Be willing to go beyond your limits.

7) Be prepared to fail greatly so that you can achieve greatly.